Distraction Therapy

How can community media in the UK secure its future, and what do we need to champion and advocate about the work of community media so that policy-makers and funders understand what the social value of community media is? These are the questions that we discussed in this podcast, which was recorded at the Community Media Association 2019 Conference at Media City in Salford. Taking part was Jay Sykes from the University of Sunderland, Mary Lennon from Craol in Ireland, Fahim and Zahida from Crescent Community Radio in Rochdale.

I was visiting Totnes for a couple of days, and I was lucky to meet up with Cathie and Mark Burgess who run Life Care Radio. The station is aimed at people who live in residential and care homes in the Totnes area, with a strong focus on engaging with people who aren’t mobile in their communities, but who still want to be part of their town, their network of friends and which keeps them connected.

Cathie and Mark talked about the inspiration for the station, how it has grown out of hospital radio, and what they personally get from volunteering. We had to use Cathie’s car to record the podcast, because in the best tradition of the NHS the security pass to the building wasn’t active.

There is a growing sense that community radio can help improve the well-being and health of our communities. Nigel Dallard and I chatted this evening about his experience supporting Winchester Radio, and how this distinctive community radio station grew out of hospital radio, but has recently moved on to championing better engagement with people who live in the City of Winchester by promoting and supporting a range of health and well-being activities. Nigel shared his experience of identifying the charitable and social gain objectives of the station, and how he hopes that community radio can make a positive impact and improve the quality of life for people across the local communities in the city.

Digital inclusion is a hot topic with policy-makers and social organisations who seek to deal with the challenges of making sure we are an inclusive society, one that is based on shared principles of good citizenship, community cohesion and meaningful engagement. Professor Simeon Yates of the University of Liverpool is a leading advocate for a meaningful and inclusive approach to digital social policy and practices. We chatted over Skype to talk  about the Digital Motivations report that he co-authored with Good Things Foundation, and the way we can move to a more inclusive and better supported sense of citizenship based on life-long learning and a recognition that we all have different needs and face different challenges when it comes to the digital world.

This morning I chatted over Skype with Sean Dagan Wood, who is the editor of Positive News. We discussed the bias of negative stories in many news producers, and what the benefits of a social and values-driven model of news are. Sean explained what the constructive news model is, and why it is important to think about our responsabilities when working as a journalist.

I recently visited Leicestershire County Council to talk with Sabrina Malik and Lorna Dellow about their work with Carillon Wellbeing Radio, and the way local councils and heath services might be able to work more closely with community media organisations to engage with people locally in more meaningful and accountable ways.

It was really great to chat with Dr Terri Enyon earlier today about Carillon Wellbeing Radio, which is part of the HermetageFM family of community radio stations based in Coalville. CWR is a new station broadcasting to Leicestershire on 1476 AM. The station provides a wide collection of music across five decades, but most important, the station aims to develop and support programmes that focus on information about health and wellbeing. CWR is made in conjunction with the NHS and Leicestershire County Council, and is an exciting innovation in how community media can be used to enhance public service delivery. I chatted with Terri about how the idea for the station came about, and what kind of challenges have been considered to ensure that the station is both relevant and sustainable.

What is the social purpose of community media? This is the question Rosie Parkyn and I discussed this morning when I visited the Internews office in London. We chatted about the potential strategic role of community media as a way to facilitate stronger and better informed civic discussions that support people living in local communities. Rosie shared her thoughts about the role of community media and the benefits that it brings to people who volunteer, and the need for greater support for people who want to lead and bring about social change using community media as a vital community resource.

Today I met with Juan Pardo of Leicestershire County Council, and we discussed how concepts of social value are being developed to help and support independent community services. Juan identifies how his experience promoting community engagement is becoming more central to the way services are provided by local authorities, and how the Nesta report about Public Value reflects how the practice is beginning to be understood by other service delivery agencies.

How we invest in businesses and organisations that are focussed on social value and community benefit is an important question, as we seek to tackle issues of engagement, resilience and sustainability. I spoke earlier today over Skype with Dave Boyle, who has campaigned and worked to support community organised and funded cooperatives across the UK since 2001. Dave uses his expertise in cooperative development as part of the Community Shares Company, and contributed to the recent report from Nesta, about community shares as a way of empowering communities through alternative and collaborative models of financing.